Black Ghost - Hemi Challenger

[njsteve]

The Black Ghost is a very cool car with a great history that was preserved for posterity through a variety of avenues: the stories, paperwork, photos, family, and the actual car.

Brings back memories of my old 1970 Hemi R/T-SE Charger 4 speed that I owned for 25 years. It was a fun car with an amazing history and I had the privilege/luck of moving to the next town over from where it originally terrorized the streets when new.

Only in this case it had the ultimate reputation of being "The Fastest Hemi That Never Won A Street Race" LOL. At any car show or cruise night I brought it to, another old guy would come up and say "Hey I beat this car in a race back in 1971...That kid that owned it sure couldn't drive."


https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthread.php?t=77085

P.S. I managed to turn a 12.77 at 111 mph on street tires, with the car at Bradenton in 1992.

[Formula455SD]

A smart street racer chooses his battles.....

Example... I don't race Hellcats with my Scat Pack...

[bashton]

Originally Posted by Formula455SD

A smart street racer chooses his battles.....

Example... I don't race Hellcats with my Scat Pack...

Exactly!

I can assure you, Godfrey was no dummy.

Bashton

[tom M]

Originally Posted by 1971ls6

I had dinner last night with a few of the mopar guys that looked at the car in the mid 90’s, the old man wanted $85,000 for it, that was areal big number for the time. They also mentioned the rotted out floor.

one of them must have talked to tony because he just repeated what you stated on his latest video.
or he is following this thread and saw your post.

[CamaroNOS]

Originally Posted by 70 copo

Good. That cuts a full second off the time. Road tests show 13.1 @ 107

What else could have been done?

The top street cars in NE Ohio when I was A kid were all solid no excuses low 11 second cars.

And all of them were modified - even the Hemi’ cars.

What did the owner of this car do to close the gap to win consistently on the streets of Detroit then?

I suspect the owner did what I did back in the day, I carefully picked my battles back in my home town.

My Camaro was not any where near an 10 - 11 - 12 second car, as I was just a 17 year old kid with a shallow pockets. Having said that, I managed to only get beat once. I watched the serious street guys run their cars in amazement and just tried to learn a thing or two.

As far as the Black Ghost, for me it is a huge boost for our hobby that will all do us well. When was the last time a great car movie, based on a real story, hit the screens? At the end of the day, it will probably draw more folks into the muscle car world which is just a good thing to see.

I'm just sitting back with my bag of popcorn and waiting for the unveiling.

Paul

[Jeffp920]

Hello all, I have followed this thread since the start keeping quiet. I watched the auction knowing all the hype. I was elated that the car brought a nice figure for the seller. The buyer got a great car with a cool back story. That being said, I would love to see it at MCACN this year. Who cares if it was faster, or quicker? It is/was a great story concerning the car. It is still one of the most interestingly optioned hemi cars out there. Ryan is going to be a great care taker and will do the car right. Lets stop the trash and just enjoy the car for what it is. A great piece of automotive history.

[70 copo]

Originally Posted by CamaroNOS

I suspect the owner did what I did back in the day, I carefully picked my battles back in my home town.

My Camaro was not any where near an 10 - 11 - 12 second car, as I was just a 17 year old kid with a shallow pockets. Having said that, I managed to only get beat once. I watched the serious street guys run their cars in amazement and just tried to learn a thing or two.

As far as the Black Ghost, for me it is a huge boost for our hobby that will all do us well. When was the last time a great car movie, based on a real story, hit the screens? At the end of the day, it will probably draw more folks into the muscle car world which is just a good thing to see.

I'm just sitting back with my bag of popcorn and waiting for the unveiling.

Paul

I am good with that for the entertainment value as long as we portray it as such and avoid the emotional trap of attempting to somehow redefine the performance characteristics because we happen to like a back story.

The foundation of this forum is a source of factual information. If that gets lost on the basics then that would be a waste of time for those who have invested in it.

I have been here for nearly 23 years...

[Tracker1]

Not sure if this will be readable - pretty rare road test I have of a '70 Hemi Challenger with Firestone slicks and Jardine Headers, Fine-Fine-tuned and they obviously knew how to drive. It went 12.7. Two magazines tested this same car - the other mag did 12.95 in it. I have that test too. Just goes to show how capable the "right" Hemi was if the engine wasn't built on Friday or Monday. It was a mover.

[njsteve]

That's a cool article. Nice that it corroborates my 12.77 @ 111 in a similarly weighted (4040lbs) 426 hemi, with a 4-speed and 4.10s.

[EZ Nova]

Steve, a friend of mine built a clone almost to Rene's car. 1970 Challenger convert, Purple and white, Hemi 727 with gear vender, 4.10 Dana, 15 x8's rear and 15 x 7 fronts. Warmed over hemi that looked totally stock BUT for the headers. Could see the 2 throttle bodies due to the shaker. On BFG Radial T/As, that car RAN high to mid 10's. I believe it went 10.72 vs a A/SA 1970 Hemi Challenger back around 2003/05 at Grand Bend. Car is a Toronto streetcar. He can sit and idle that think in Toronto traffic for hours, and has. Or like that day, drive it over 3 hrs to Grand Bend and run it.

At the time, he also had and original paint 1970 Hemi Cuda, and a 1970 Cuda with a hemi as his racecar.